4 carjack group suspects killed

FOUR suspected members of the notorious Dominguez carjacking gang were killed in a gunfight with authorities in Meycauayan City, Bulacan province Thursday morning, including one of the suspects in the murders of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano in January last year.

Napoleon Salamat, who was described as a “dreaded core member” of a carjacking group led by brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez, was slain in the alleged shootout with Highway Patrol Group (HPG) agents, investigators said.

The three other suspects were not immediately identified, while two others managed to escape.

A fake identification card under the name Eduardo Lopez and bearing the photo of Rolando Talban, a notorious carjacker identified with the Dominguez brothers, was found in the group’s car, but investigators said he was not among the dead.

HPG director Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said a concerned citizen spotted the group removing the license plate of an Isuzu DMax pickup truck with plate number NOA-153 on Wednesday night.

With the information, Meycauayan police immediately asked the HPG for assistance.

Responding mobile teams spotted the vehicle at Muralla Park in Barangay (village) Iba and tried to flag it down, but the suspects opened fire at the authorities, prompting the lawmen to fire back, Espina said.

Two suspects died instantly, while the two others were rushed to the hospital, but they died on the way. One of the suspects was able to escape with a companion aboard a motorcycle, Espina said.

Records showed the DMax had been taken forcibly from its owner in San Pedro, Laguna province, on Tuesday.

Recovered at the crime scene were an Ingram machine pistol with live ammunition, three .45-cal. pistols, spent shells, alicense plate, an ATM card under the name Pablo Baguiwet, a copy of the release order of Napoleon Salamat issued by a Malolos City court and Talban’s license card.

The slain Salamat, Talban and the Dominguez brothers, who are now in a Bulacan jail, were implicated in the abduction and murders of Evangelista and Lozano last year.

Lawyer Oliver Lozano and Arsenio Evangelista, the fathers of the murder victims, welcomed the news of Salamat’s death.

A suspect-turned-state witness, Alfred Mendiola, alleged that Salamat had   torched the victims.

Salamat was among those charged with car theft with homicide in a Quezon City court for the death of Venson Evangelista. He is facing similar charges in Bulacan in connection with the murder of Emerson Lozano.—With a report from Nancy C. Carvajal